There's a new Android Q beta, but it comes with bad news for custom launchers.

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We don't have any Beta 5 pictures yet, but here's what the gesture navigation system looked like in earlier builds.

Ron Amadeo

Correctly set-up apps get a transparent nav bar.

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With a transparent bar, Android will continuously sample the background and change the color of the gesture indicator. (The whole rest of this gallery is GIFs, by the way.)

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Here's the home gesture. Just swipe up from the bottom.

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Swipe in from the side of the display to trigger "Back." An arrow will pop up.

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For Recent Apps, swipe up and hold.

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Triggering Recent Apps on the home screen is strange. First the app drawer will pop up, then Recent Apps will slide in from the left.

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Swipe left and right on the gesture bar to switch apps.

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Opening a keyboard makes the whole bar grow taller so the old icon can appear.

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Today Google is launching Android Q beta 5, the fifth of six beta releases before we get the final version of Android Q, version 10. Google already finalized the Android Q APIs in Beta 4, so what does that leave for this release? Apparently lots of changes to gesture navigation.

To recap: with Android Q Google is introducing a brand-new "Fully gestural" navigation system, which eschews Android's traditional three-button navigation system for a gesture system that enables all three functions (Back, Home, and Recent Apps) to be triggered with swipes. The new navigation system saves a ton of space, with only a transparent gesture bar at the bottom of the screen, just like on an iPhone X.

Three functions do not quite cover all of the functionality of the old three-button bar, however. You could also long-press on the home button to summon the Google Assistant, and in previous betas, this feature didn't make it to the gesture-navigation system. For Beta 5, Google is introducing a new gesture for the Google Assistant—swipe up from the corner. Dragging in from either bottom corner of the screen will now open the Google Assistant, and Google says "you’ll notice ‘handles’ that serve as a visual affordance that we’re continuing to tune."

We are just working off of a blog post for now, so we don't have any screenshots, but XDA was able to score an early build and show off the new Assistant gesture. For now, two "L" shaped indicators sometimes appear at the bottom corners of the screen. I thought it was taking a screenshot at first, but it's just for the Google Assistant.

Google is also changing the way the navigation panel works in Android Q. Android Q's back gesture is a swipe in from the side of the screen, and traditionally opening the navigation panel has been a swipe in from the side of the screen, so one of them has to change. At Google I/O, Google gave several talks explaining the new navigation panel behavior, saying the navigation panel would eat the first swipe in from the side of the screen, and a second swipe would trigger back. Now, just months after I/O, it's changing that behavior again: tapping on the side of the screen will now cause the navigation drawer to peek out from the side of the screen, where it can be opened.

🚧 The drawer behavior is changing. Users will be able to open the drawer by peeking the drawer, and then swiping. Big benefit is that this works with existing apps with "old" DrawerLayout versions. pic.twitter.com/WVyOzQFzHO

The way developers can reserve parts of the gesture-navigation area for controls is also changing.

The fact that Google is changing the gesture-navigation behavior after Google I/O, after it has already published a lot of docs and videos about how everything is supposed to work, is a bit alarming. Google has already committed to standardizing the Android Q implementation of gesture navigation to the point where OEMs will no longer be allowed to make their own alternative forms of gesture navigation. As Google explained at I/O, apps need to design their UI around the behavior of gesture navigation, and making developers have to deal with seven or eight different gesture-navigation systems from the big OEMs would be too much work.

Forcing everyone to use Google's gesture navigation is taking on a lot of responsibility, and Google really needs to nail Android Q's gesture-navigation implementation. Yet we now have one more beta left, and things are still changing, and it seems like Google is going to take this down to the wire.

For some aspects of gesture navigation, Google is already moving the goal posts for the Android Q launch deadline.

Gesture navigation won’t support third-party home screens at launch

One of the best features of Android is the ability to customize the home screen. You can install a ton of different third-party launchers with a bevy of options, some representing a normal home screen layout with power user settings and others completely redefining the home screen experience. Today, along with Android Q Beta 5, Google is announcing that Android Q's gesture navigation won't work with third-party home screens at launch.

"Custom launchers are another area where we’ve heard feedback and we’re continuing to work on issues, particularly with stability and Recents." Google writes in its blog post. "Starting in Beta 6, we’ll switch users back to 3-button nav when they are using a custom launcher by default. We’ll address the remaining issues in a post-launch update so those users can switch to gestural navigation. We’ll be working with our device-maker partners to include with their devices shipping or updating to Android Q. Meanwhile, please continue to give us your feedback."

Further Reading

Android Q's gesture-navigation system has continually had problems with third-party launchers, but it was easy to just chalk the problems up to "it's a beta" and the problems that go with that. The current gesture-navigation system doesn't even work that well with Google's launcher! The news that the launcher bugs aren't going to be fixed in time for the final Android Q launch is a major bombshell, especially given how much work Google usually puts into maintaining developer compatibility.

Compare this launcher incompatibility announcement to the run-up to storage-access protections in Android Q. Scoped storage has the potential to break Android apps, so Google announced it with Beta 1 in March. It got a ton of feedback from developers over a few months and later announced that mandatory scoped storage would be delayed to next year's Android R release. By contrast, developers have had very little time to deal with gesture navigation, which, as we pointed out earlier, is still being changed today.

As of Beta 4, using gesture navigation with a third-party launcher didn't work at all. Home screen defaults were often not honored, and if your home screen default was honored, the system would just crash over and over. Since May, when gesture navigation was dropped on everyone, we've seen rival home screen developers come together and coordinate filing bugs to try to make sure Google fixes everything before launch, but apparently there just isn't enough time. Google would not give me a timeline for when all of these problems would be fixed post-Q launch.

Beta 5 is out today for Pixel devices. We still have one more beta next month before the final Android Q launch, which is sometime in Q3. (Although, Google, if you want to push that date back a bit and make launchers work, that would probably be fine!) The blog post also notes that the Android engineering team will host a Reddit AMA on r/androiddev sometime later this month, so be sure to save up your burning questions.

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Ron Amadeo
Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work. Emailron@arstechnica.com//Twitter@RonAmadeo

Someone at Google has clearly decided that Change == Progress, and is willing to die on that hill. We're almost reaching the point with Android that nearly killed Windows. Don't spend a decade or longer training and growing your userbase, and then intentionally set out to confuse them with change that adds no value.

Eliminating 3-button nav for swipes is a solution looking for a problem.

It's trendy because iPhone does it, which means Android OEMs are going to do it. Having a standard gesture system for OEMs to use in the future is a genuine solution to a genuine problem for Google (inconsistency in Android devices and experiences).

Eliminating 3-button nav for swipes is a solution looking for a problem.

It's trendy because iPhone does it, which means Android OEMs are going to do it. Having a standard gesture system for OEMs to use in the future is a genuine solution to a genuine problem for Google (inconsistency in Android devices and experiences).

Fair, but they should make it super easy to switch back to the standard buttons and above all not surprise users after an upgrade.

Your notional grandfather's going to see this and lose his shit because nothing works like it used to.

Eliminating 3-button nav for swipes is a solution looking for a problem.

It's trendy because iPhone does it, which means Android OEMs are going to do it. Having a standard gesture system for OEMs to use in the future is a genuine solution to a genuine problem for Google (inconsistency in Android devices and experiences).

Fair, but they should make it super easy to switch back to the standard buttons and above all not surprise users after an upgrade.

Your notional grandfather's going to see this and lose his shit because nothing works like it used to.

Oh, I absolutely agree. I was under the impression that the buttons would still be a choice for the user going forward.

Someone at Google has clearly decided that Change == Progress, and is willing to die on that hill. We're almost reaching the point with Android that nearly killed Windows. Don't spend a decade or longer training and growing your userbase, and then intentionally set out to confuse them with change that adds no value.

Tangentially related: web service we rely on daily looked a bit dated. I mean that in modern design trends like colors, and square vs rounded UI elements, etc... They could have just changed the CSS and that'd be that. But no. The org switched to a different app entirely. New one claims to do the same things, but the workflow is completely different. And by different I mean different. Entirely reimagined concepts, making transition incredibly hard for the users. For no good reason!

Eliminating 3-button nav for swipes is a solution looking for a problem.

It's trendy because iPhone does it, which means Android OEMs are going to do it. Having a standard gesture system for OEMs to use in the future is a genuine solution to a genuine problem for Google (inconsistency in Android devices and experiences).

Fair, but they should make it super easy to switch back to the standard buttons and above all not surprise users after an upgrade.

Your notional grandfather's going to see this and lose his shit because nothing works like it used to.

Supposedly in Q they'll make it easy to switch to the buttons. The Pixel 3's originally were forced gestures.

Eliminating 3-button nav for swipes is a solution looking for a problem.

The problem it solves for me is straining to reach across a massive screen with my thumb to try and hit the back button. Of course, a better solution would be the option to swap the positions of the icons, but stock Android doesn't allow you to do that (at least, not on the Pixel 3XL).

I'm not sold at all on gestures replacing the buttons, but if it doesn't work with third party launchers then it's completely DOA. There's no way in hell I'm giving up Nova Launcher. Frankly, gestures seem like a solution in search of a problem, leave them to specific apps where they make sense.

Eliminating 3-button nav for swipes is a solution looking for a problem.

It's trendy because iPhone does it, which means Android OEMs are going to do it. Having a standard gesture system for OEMs to use in the future is a genuine solution to a genuine problem for Google (inconsistency in Android devices and experiences).

Many of those inconsistencies arose out of bad design decisions. A) OEMs were responsible for building their ROMs and could slap anything on top for the UI. B) OEMs leveraged this to distinguish themselves with better UIs and functionality than stock Android offered.

Inconsistencies further stacked with Android devices not being updated concurrently because of the OEM effort requirement. Android L, M, N, and O all have significant (>10%) user bases. Jelly Bean and Kitkat combined are another 10%+ of users.

So a standardized system is pretty much only useful to the crowd that thinks they need a new phone every 12 months -- a number which lately has been dwindling away as consumers find their old phones do more than enough and new ones cost too much. Otherwise, consumers are now jumping too many Android versions from phone to phone purchase to expect any UI consistency or for it to be of much service.

I'm not sold at all on gestures replacing the buttons, but if it doesn't work with third party launchers then it's completely DOA. There's no way in hell I'm giving up Nova Launcher. Frankly, gestures seem like a solution in search of a problem, leave them to specific apps where they make sense.

Nova Launcher for life. I agree, the extra 1/4" of screen space is really not that important in comparison to usability (gestures are always less usable that buttons because they are less consistent).

You know, my Galaxy phone's One UI, with gesture navigation that supports third-party launchers, is looking better and better. Maybe I won't be as upset when Samsung take six months to incorporate this "update."

As long as the ability to turn off gestures entirely remains from the beta I'll be a happy camper. I've hated the stupid gesture system since I first got the Pie beta, and upgrading to the Pixel 3 where it's mandatory has made my hate even deeper. Having a dedicated icon for recent apps that didn't get confused with the one for the app drawer was not broken, it didn't need to be fixed.

Looks like the people at Google are going to have their Windows 8.0/8.1 moment with Q. End users with either hate it with a passion or like it with a smirk.

???

End users of Widows 8 hated it with a passion; there was no liking it "with a smirk."

Windows 8 was great on tablets and convertibles. It was awful on the desktop. Windows 8.1 made it better on the desktop without impacting the tablet experience much. Windows 10 is much better on the desktop, but is a pretty clear regression in the tablet experience.

Sometimes gestures are better. In Chrome I can swipe left and right on the URL bar to switch tabs. That's great, it turns 2-3 taps into one action. Swiping on my keyboard turns 2-10 taps into one action.

But when a gesture turns what was one quick tap into tap and drag, that's no good. I am willing to try it and will give it some time to see if it's better once I get used to it, but I'm highly skeptical that it will be anywhere near as good.

Personally, I see no great value to this. I do see it being a PITA from false readings.

As an example of how it'd be a PITA, my phone sits on a custom stand on my desk, and I'm always reaching around it for a pen or scissors or letter/bill something of a desky nature. I'm usually coming relatively close to it with my hand or an object.

Will that cause a "gesture feature" to register some weird gesture? If not, why not? What's the range, and response?

Now, project that onto phones sitting in charger bases by the side of the bed, or as they're being brought out of pockets and cases and turned, or when they're left out on tables in restaurants as people gesture to one another when they talk and eat. It's relatively common for people to be moving like that very near their phones without actually USING their phones.

Not having seen this "feature" in action, I can't say how discriminating it is about ignoring unintended or false input. But I'm reasonably confident it'll get a lot of unintended and false input along the way.

While having to actually touch the phone doesn't do away with unintended or false input (autocorrect not withstanding, since that's supposedly a feature, not a bug), it seems to me not having to touch the phone to get a response from it has a much greater potential for increased aggravation than sticking to the old-fashioned method of interacting with electronic devices (like touching and talking).

I'm looking forward to seeing how this gesture thing works in the wild. I suspect there will be a lot of amusement involved - at least on MY part, since I don't have a phone that's capable of adding gestures as a feature. But the actual outcome remains to be seen.

As someone in the minority who actually likes the existing gesture nav (the old three button nav is perfectly fine, too), the new gesture nav just looks clumsy. The home button on the existing/2-button system actually does something; on the new system, it doesn't seem to do anything outside of switching apps (which you can do with the recent apps function already). If it's not actually a home button and Assistant shortcut, why is it there at all?

I've always wondered why they didn't implement something like "swipe right on home button, go back" and "swipe left on home button, open recent apps" to mirror the old buttons.

As someone in the minority who actually likes the existing gesture nav (the old three button nav is perfectly fine, too), the new gesture nav just looks clumsy. The home button on the existing/2-button system actually does something; on the new system, it doesn't seem to do anything outside of switching apps (which you can do with the recent apps function already). If it's not actually a home button and Assistant shortcut, why is it there at all?[snip]

Eliminating 3-button nav for swipes is a solution looking for a problem.

It's trendy because iPhone does it, which means Android OEMs are going to do it. Having a standard gesture system for OEMs to use in the future is a genuine solution to a genuine problem for Google (inconsistency in Android devices and experiences).

Fair, but they should make it super easy to switch back to the standard buttons and above all not surprise users after an upgrade.

Your notional grandfather's going to see this and lose his shit because nothing works like it used to.

Never mind grandpa, this sounds like it's still a hot mess. As it stands I don't want it.

While having to actually touch the phone doesn't do away with unintended or false input (autocorrect not withstanding, since that's supposedly a feature, not a bug), it seems to me not having to touch the phone to get a response from it has a much greater potential for increased aggravation than sticking to the old-fashioned method of interacting with electronic devices (like touching and talking).